This insulation factory in Erwin, Tennessee, was built in 1962 for the production of refractories; which are extremely heat resistant materials used for lining high temperature equipment like furnaces, kilns, incinerators, crucibles, rectors, or even deflectors for rocket launch structures. The insulation they made here also needed to be able to resist hard physical wear and chemical corrosion.
The plant ended up passing through several different owners such as Combustion Engineering, CE Refractories, Thermal Ceramics, Premier, and Vesuvius. Thermal Ceramics bought it from Vesuvius in May, 2006; and it was then closed down in 2009.
Though it was believed to have been closed down for good in 2009, the economy eventually improved so Morgan Crucible, a company located in England, made an attempt to put the plant back into production as Thermal Ceramics in 2011. Several former employees were re-hired, and they worked with great dedication and excitement preparing the equipment for going back online. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have worked out for them; and the plant ended up being abandoned again.
Back when these photos were taken, the city was advertising the property for sale. With 122,000 square feet under roof, tons of parking, railroad service, and a great location right in town, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be too hard to sell.
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